Gomes v Commissioner of State Revenue (Review and Regulation) [2015] VCAT 452
The applicant obtained a transfer of an existing home from her ex-husband pursuant to a court order. It was this home for which the applicant sought the First Home Owner Grant. The Commissioner refused payment of the grant on the basis that there was not an eligible transaction (in this case, a contract for the purchase of a home).
The Tribunal agreed that the court order did not constitute a contract for the purchase of a home. This is because none of the fundamental requirements of a contract were satisfied (offer and acceptance, consideration and intention to create legal relations).
The Tribunal made orders affirming the Commissioner’s decision to refuse payment of the grant. The Tribunal also accepted that having received a duties exemption by declaring that the property was transferred to her by reason of the breakdown of her marriage, the applicant could not now take a different position and claim to have purchased the property from her ex-husband pursuant to a contract in order to obtain the grant.